Tuesday, 27 December 2016

Pub 127, Day 48 – The Norfolk Arms

By Andy

When you first tell people about Pubquest, they invariably think of summer afternoons in beer gardens, or winter evenings by a crackling fire. Less often, they think of blindly walking down an unlit road in Chapeltown, desperately searching for some nondescript boozer.

Alas, the latter situation was where we found ourselves tonight.

I think it's this next left.”

What left? I can't see a left.”

Well me neither, but according to the map, there will be a left, and it will be our left.”

Right. This pub better be good...”

Thankfully, The Norfolk Arms was a classic food pub – our intrepid exploration of Chapeltown meant we had worked up quite an appetite.

They say Edmund Hillary consumed as many as 20,000 calories a day during his summit of Mount Everest, and by the time we spotted our destination we knew exactly how he felt.

Calories (and beer absorption) were the aim of the game, so we ignored the specials menu and ordered two chip butties.

However, we were disappointed to find our chips housed in a brioche bun rather than a doughy breadcake – while brioche buns are a great addition to a burger, the sweetness didn't sit right in a chip butty. The square plates were a bit unneccessary too!

The brioche buns were also less effective at negating our previous pints. In contrast, the humble white breadcake is the Hobnob of the beer absorption world, and can easily enable you to drink for several additional hours.

Bread choice aside, I felt The Norfolk Arms had the right balance of fanciness – the menu consisted of pub classics, often with a slight twist. The specials board alone had enough to keep everyone happy, including an appetising-sounding chicken and chorizo burger.

We drank Ice Witch by Moorhouse's Brewery, a fruity and floral beer which did not suit my palate, but may be of interest for those who like their beer to taste like fabric softener.

After several pints at The Commercial, The Norfolk Arms was the perfect pub to follow up with – a much-needed food stop which gave us the energy to keep exploring...

Pub: The Norfolk Arms (29 White Lane, S35 2YG)
Rating: 7/10
Pint: Ice Witch

No comments:

Post a Comment